Results of the 1st bus ride...

Well, we did it... On Saturday, Anthony and I successfully navigated at least a small portion of the Las Vegas public transportation system. It's not really a system I guess, more of a collection of bus routes. When I hear system, I think of things like what the San Francisco Bay area has to offer... buses, trollies, trains, and even ferries. Ok, so the ferries are a bit too much for Vegas, but this community is seriously lacking in a useful and realistic alternative for most of the car-reliant Las Vegans. But I digress...

Our trip wasn't too bad. The buses were surprisingly clean and actually not very crowded. The stops themselves, however, leave a lot to be desired. The entire trip didn't take too long, but there was a lot of walking between stops. Too much walking, in my opinion, to make the use of public transportation a reasonable alternative on a daily basis. I can see myself using my bike in conjunction with the bus, but it will be difficult for Anthony until he loses his training wheels.

We did meet some very nice people. Even a group of teenagers were joking around with Anthony. The groups of people we saw on the bus were definitely better than those I had pictured in my mind that would ride the bus. Now I'm not saying that some people didn't have eccentricities, but I did feel safe and that's what I was worried about with this project.

I only had to make one 911 call... seriously! A woman waiting at one of the bus stops with us handed me her phone and asked me to call 911 as she doubled over in pain. The ambulance came about 5 minutes later and they loaded her up. I'm guessing she's probably ok, but we had to catch our next bus, so I didn't follow up.

I will put together a bus-riding bag with essential tools, however. #1: Three or four bottles of water. The waiting and the walking makes one a bit thirsty! Plus, even though it's October, it's still pretty warm here in Vegas! #2: Hand wipes AND hand sanitizer. Anthony couldn't help himself. He apparently had to touch everything, including the ground, the trash can, the dirty bench... I disinfected him periodically throughout and immediately when we got home. Plus, we both jumped in the shower after we walked in the door. #3: Bus maps and schedule. These really came in handy and I don't see me memorizing the bus schedule anytime soon! #4: Anthony entertainment. Next time, I will ensure that the PSP is charged up... #5: Plastic bags. Apparently, you have to cover wheels to skateboards and scooters (which we took for our journey this time) with plastic bags. This is supposed to stop one from riding up and down the aisle and keep the bus cleaner I guess.

Overall, not a bad experience. One I wouldn't mind doing again. I did notice that I had more time to sit and talk with Anthony and it was a bit more of a relaxing way to travel. I felt a little out of control as far as timing everything, but it was nice not having to concentrate on driving and fighting traffic. I may be more inclined to use a bus now that I know more about it all. I do believe that they need more routes created and more buses added to the current routes to make the program more successful. I've started my campaign of getting more routes by my house. The RTC website says they base their routes off of the requests from the public. Well, I can and will be persistent!